mephitic acid

Noun

mephitic acid (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of carbonic acid.
   • The fact is, that fixed air is so rare a vapour and the Mephitic Acid, as I shall already venture to call it, is so greatly diluted in water, which is even saturated with it, that many of the blue juices relist its action upon them; while others, more sensible tests of acidity (such as infusions of...1776, Joseph Priestley, Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, volume 2
   • During the inspiration, while the mephitic acid is in a state of chemical union with phlogiston, it pastes through the lime-water without affecting its transparency; but no sooner is the air decompounded ia the lungs, and the phlogiston absorbed, than the fixed air is set at liberty, and manifests...1790, The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, page 1017

   Synonyms:

   carbonic acid